Middle Grade Reviews (Page 65)

In this lyrical novel, Karlijn Stoffels weaves together separate stories about the many forms love can take and how it shapes every human heart. First we meet Mee, a child born to deaf parents whose beautiful singing voice goes unheard and ultimately rejected by his mother. Broken hearted from her rejection and loss, Mee wanders the countryside singing mournful songs at funerals. He gains fame as the “singer of sorrows” as through his music the true life and emotions of the deceased are brought to life for all the listeners to share. We also meet Mitou, a child of despair, who focuses instead on the joys of life and wanders the country bringingRead More →

The dictionary defines a fable as: “a fictitious narrative or statement: as a: a legendary story of supernatural happenings b: a narration intended to enforce a useful truth.”  I’ve been thinking a lot about this definition after having finished Sonya Hartnett’s lyrical novel The Ghost’s Child.  On the surface it’s a lovely story about an old woman who comes home to find a mysterious boy in her parlor and proceeds to tell him the story of her life.  Matilda’s story spans most of the 20th century – from her shy childhood to the 2 year sea voyage she and her father went on looking forRead More →

Kenny Sykes is a pretty unremarkable kid – he’s got a couple of friends, an older sister about to be married, a younger brother he babysits, good parents, and an average suburban life.  During the quiet summer mornings he finds a calling – to save the crickets and other creatures that fall into his backyard pool – thus Cricket Man is created.  What stumps Kenny, though, is that once he takes a bug, tired from struggling against drowning, out of the water, sometimes they jump right back in again. Cricket Man gives Kenny hidden powers – of observation, of courage (he says and does thingsRead More →